Descent to Undermountain
Descent to Undermountain (also known simply as Undermountain) is a role-playing game created and distributed by Interplay in 1997. It was developed by Chris Avellone, Scott Bennie, John Deiley, Robert Holloway, Steve Perrin. The game partially derives its title from the use of the ''Descent'' 3D graphical engine. Undermountain allowed the player to interact with NPCs, monsters, and the general environment from a first-person perspective. The quest took place within the environs of the infamous super-dungeon of the Undermountain. Real-time combat would mix with puzzles to provide a variety of challenges throughout the vast dungeon. Story From the game box: Gameplay The game was not the first to bring PC role-playing into a 3D environment, having been preceded by several titles such as Bethesda Softworks' ''Elder Scrolls Arena and Elder Scrolls Daggerfall along with Origin's Ultima Underworld series. It was, however, noted for being the first RPG to use a dedicated 3D engine such as that behind Descent to create a 3D world based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons license. As the back of the box stated, the game included six different races that could take on single or multi-class professions with a variety of unique abilities such as thieves being able to climb walls. Over fifty different 3D monsters were in the game along with 160 magical items and forty different spells. Reception Players and critics alike have noted the unfinished feel of the game upon release. Cooperative multiplayer support, previously promised as a part of the title, was cut late in development because of severe technical issues to focus on the single player campaign.From Google Groups The decision to use the Descent 1 engine was also cited as a design issue, as it required heavy rewrites to the code in order to support an RPG setting such as Undermountain.IGN RPG Vault Bugs, embarrassingly weak AI, the unappealing and shoddy nature of the graphics, and several other issues have attributed to a general consensus of the game as an example of a title that was pushed to release before it was ready.Article at Gamasutra Index Characters :Aleena Paladinstar • Durnan • Khelben Arunsun • Mirt • Nalbas • Sabrae • Sangalor • Zariel :Halaster Creatures :baneguard • beholder • dragon • drow • dwarf • elf • fire mephit • gargoyle • ghast • ghoul • giant bat • giant beetle • giant rat • giant spider • goblin • half-elf • halfling • human • ice mephit • illithid • kobold • lich • lightning mephit • mummy • ogre • orc • shadow fiend • guardian skeleton • spectator • troll • zombie Locations :;Buildings & Sites: Blackstaff Tower :;Inns & Taverns: Yawning Portal Inn :;Settlements: Waterdeep :;Wilderness: Undermountain :;Regions: Sword Coast North Magic :;Spells: Abjure • Aid • Armor • Bless • Burning Hands • Chill Touch • Color Spray • Confusion • Continual Light • Cure Light Wounds • Cure Serious Wounds • Detect Magic • Dispel Magic • Fear • Feather Fall • Fireball • Flame Arrow • Flame Walk • Fly • Free Action • Haste • Hold Person • Hold Undead • Infravision • Improved Invisibility • Invisibility • Jump • Knock • Levitate • Lightning Bolt • Light • Magic Missile • Magical Stone • Magical Vestment • Melf’s Acid Arrow • Melf’s Minute Meteors • Prayer • Protection from Evil • Protection From Fire • Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer • Resist Cold • Resist Fire • Scare • Silence • Shield • Sleep • Slow • Spider Climb • Stoneskin • Strength Organizations :Lords of Waterdeep • Thieves Guild of Waterdeep Religions :Tymora • Eilistraee • Lolth Miscellaneous :;Weapons & Armor: Bastard Sword • Boot • Bracer • Broad Sword • Chainmail • Cloak • Club • Crossbow • Dagger • Dart • Hand Axe • Helm • Leather Armor • Leather Gauntlet • Metal Gauntlet • Longbow • Long Sword • Mace • Plate Mail • Scimitar • Shield • Shortbow • Short Sword • Throwing Axe • Throwing Dagger • Throwing Hammer • War Hammer Gallery Descent-to-undermountain-dos-back-cover.jpg|Back cover of DOS edition. DtU - Aleena Paladinstar face.png|Aleena Paladinstar. descent_to_undermountain_screenshot1.png|Loading Screen of Descent to Undermountain. descent_to_undermountain_screenshot2.png|Talking to Khelben Blackstaff. DtU - Durnan.png|Durnan. descent_to_undermountain_screenshot3.png|In-game action versus a Guardian Skeleton. descent_to_undermountain_screenshot4.png|Character Creation. DtU - Aleena Paladinstar.png|Aleena Paladinstar. Appendix Further Reading * External links *Gamespot Review *Structural Key Design Elements *Archived Usenet post; a quoted message from Reginald Arnedo from Interplay concerning why multiplayer was dropped is part of the thread *Archived Usenet post; Statement from DTU team concerning future of the game (1998) *First part of an interview with Feargus Urquhart (1998) References Connections Category:Computer games Category:Published in 1997